Mister Beacon

The Physical Web: What is it, what happened to it, and what is the Physical Web Association’s response? This week on Mr. Beacon we have two of the Co-Founders of the Physical Web Association, Agustin Musi and James Grant, joining us to give us the scoop on the Physical Web’s past struggles as well as it’s promising future. Listen in to learn how the Physical Web provides a better alternative to developing an app, typing in a URL, or scanning a QR code, and how it provides a level playing field for content delivery.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ultra-Wideband (UWB) in the iPhone 11 – What is it and what are the implications? A few months ago a large group of engineers from Apple and Samsung entered the room where a small group of engineers were working on updating a previously obscure radio standard IEEE 802.15.4, mainly used for industrial applications such as luxury car production. Fast forward to a stage in Sunnyvale where Tim Cook unveils his new iPhone 11. The fate of Ultra-Wide Band or UWB was changed forever when Apple added a new it’s U1 UWB/Ultra-Wide Band radio and an elaborate new antenna to its latest iPhone 11.  We talk to Nathan Dunn CEO of Bluecats, one of the pioneers of UWB and Bluetooth solutions about what this means to the industry, the applications it unlocks now and what it could be used for in the future.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

There’s been a lot of talk about the new Bluetooth Angle of Arrival (AoA) standard. This week we have a first-hand account of what it took to deploy AoA technology and how well it worked in a large scale manufacturing environment. At the Quuppa Partner Conference in Finland, we had a chance to sit down with Bob Grimm, an IT Enterprise Architect at NGK Automatics Ceramics USA, Inc. Bob had just been on stage talking about NGK’s recent deployment of Quuppa Angle of Arrival technology as part of the architecture for a real time location system (RTLS). NGK Ceramics, creators of an indispensable part for automobile catalytic converters, have massive manufacturing centers which equates to many assets and moving products that need to be accounted for. Bob described the pre-RTLS process as “finding a pallet in a sea of pallets” and the environment as exceeding production capacity that was out growing their rack based inventory control process. With the RTLS system in place, NGK immediately saw value from the inc

‘Digital to physical convergence and the Internet of Apparel, with a sustainability twist!’ Dr. Kevin Dooley, a professor specializing in supply chain at Arizona State University, joins in his role as the Chief Scientist of The Sustainability Consortium (TSC). TSC is a 100+ member community of retail giants including Amazon, Walmart, Walgreens, as well as major CPG Brands, non-profits, and academic institutions. They work across all product categories to determine a way to make the things we buy more sustainable. On this episode, we learn about WearEver, a TSC project with goals to embed technology into apparel to measure usage which has the potential to increase demand for ‘clothes that have better emotional and physical utility and durability’ whilst unlocking a treasure trove of information about where / when / what consumers wear. Kevin discusses what drives interest in tracking usage of consumer products, the potential technologies to achieve this, and their current limitations.   See

A few weeks ago we heard about the new Bluetooth 5.1 specification, and notably two new exciting features: Angle of Arrival (AoA) and Angle of Departure (AoD). This week we are reunited with a familiar face, Fabio Belloni, to bring these features to life using Quuppa technology. Fabio Belloni is the Chief Customer Officer at Quuppa, a location platform that has pioneered AoA for RTLS solutions. In this episode, Fabio takes us through a demo of the reverse architecture, Angle of Departure (AoD), at their annual Quuppa Partner Conference. Rather than real time location applications, AoD is best used for indoor positioning and navigation. We then take some time to get updated on the last year at Quuppa, including their announcement of the new family of Quuppa products, and discuss what the future landscape of this Bluetooth specification.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This one is for sports fans! Liiga, or Finnish Elite League in English, is the top professional league in Finland, and the first be deploying Bluetooth technology in an ice rink! Antti Jussi, CDO of Liiga, joins us to talk about the real-time positioning project in their arenas. Antti paints a picture of Quuppa gateways with angle of arrival technology hanging from the ceilings which track Bluetooth tags on players and the puck with incredible accuracy. For the first time, teams and players are given the opportunity to dive into the data and statistics that can be collected by this system, whether it be to improve the teams flow together, their individual performance, or to look at the competition. Check out this week’s episode to learn more about the potential for Bluetooth beacons to enhance the sports industry and the challenges in initial investment as well as implementation.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Think back to the days when we thought of Bluetooth as the connection between our wireless headphones, keyboards, and the audio systems in our cars. Today we know it as so much more. Bluetooth Low Energy brought to life a new array of connected device applications. Now we are just starting to see the huge potential Bluetooth has in location services. This week we hear from Ken Kolderup, VP of Marketing for the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, the standards organization responsible for specification, qualification, and promotion of Bluetooth technology. We discuss the newest Bluetooth feature, Direction Finding, and how it is transforming our expectations of what location services Bluetooth can provide. We are moving from simple proximity detection to real time sub meter positioning. This new standard is enhancing the level of accuracy that can be achieved. For example, in manufacturing, we can go from knowing that a pallet is ‘present’ in a building, to knowing which pallet is which and exactly whe

We have all experienced the annoyance of a waiter that has disappeared, whether it’s because you need menus, you’ve been waiting to place your order, and especially when you are in a rush to pay your bill. Rene Batsford, CEO andFounder of OrderPay, realized that ordering and paying haven’t really changed for 20 years and there was an opportunity to enhance operational effectiveness that ultimately results in happier customers. OrderPays aims to provide ‘a simple and seamless way to deliver at table ordering and payment” to simplify life in hospitality. In this episode, we talk to Rene about the competing technologies in this space, and what he sees as a ‘panacea’, one technology enabling many different use cases in the consumer journey.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Something we talk about often on the Mr. Beacon Podcast is physical to digital convergence. The world of fashion is no stranger to this phenomenon. Apparel now has its own identity and retailers are creating experiences with IoT devices and augmented reality. The blending of fashion and technology is something our guest, Barry McGeough, has seen and been involved in first hand. Barry worked with Dr. Martins, at North Face, Speedo, and founder and former head of innovation at PVH: a portfolio of iconic brands such as Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, and IZOD. In this episode, we talk about why brands have to be more consumer-centric than ever, the effects of online shopping, and the pros and cons of different technologies such as RFID, QR Codes, and Bluetooth beacons in apparel.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on Mr. Beacon, we welcome back Dominque Guinard, CTO of Evrything, this time in his capacity as co-chair of the GS1 Digital Link Standard. The GSI Digital Link is defined as a “standard for web-enabling barcodes promises to enhance the shopping experience for consumers around the globe, while strengthening brand loyalty, improving supply chain traceability and efficiencies and bringing mobile phone scanning into the 21st century”. Today products are tagged for many reasons: compliance, marketing/consumer engagement, supply chain,l … The digital link standard allows all of this data to be combined into one URL that can be used at any point in the product life cycle. Global Trade Item Numbers (GTIN), or more commonly recognized as barcodes, are something we may see every day but as a consumers, we don’t have any connection or use for them. The digital link aims to change this by moving these numbers to the web, and allowing everyone to interact with them. Beyond the information used in supply chain, c

Imagine a full solution, created with such ease of set up that businesses big and small alike could have a proximity marketing campaign set up in minutes - This has been Mobstac’s guiding principle. This week on Mr. Beacon, Ravi Pratap, CTO & co-founder of Mobstac, talks to us about why he believes that Bluetooth beacon applications are led by software. Ravi explains that proximity marketing, indoor location, and way finding will only be as successful as the quality of the software that is available to leverage the technology. Mobstac’s track record is a testament to this, with one of the largest beacon deployments in the world and working with customers such as T-Mobile, Google, Amazon, and Unilever. In this episode, we also get Ravi’s opinions on the state of the beacon industry, as well as the decline of Google Eddystone’s Nearby and Samsung’s Closeby.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week we welcome Bob Friday, CTO of Mist, back to The Mr. Beacon Podcast! On this episode, Bob gives us an updated on how Mist are using machine learning in the realm of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networks. We discuss some of the recent Mist deployments at Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Resort and The Veterans Department, and discuss the state of the Bluetooth ecosystem and where it is going. Find out why Bob thinks Bluetooth is going from a “nice to have” to a “must have”. If you missed the first episode with Mist, watch it here: https://youtu.be/AlNRGbTEMkc  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on Mr. Beacon, we talk to Micha Benoliel, CEO of Nodle, a connectivity provider for the Internet of Things. Nodle has an impressive 4.3 million active nodes, and 78 million IoT devices connected to date. Nodle has built and continues to grow a network, based on Bluetooth Low Energy, that connects devices and collects their data. They have a unique approach of leveraging smartphone infrastructure to create availability for the network, crowdsourcing connectivity as Micha puts it. In this episode, we talk about the evolution of the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi standards, as well as dive into how blockchain can enable this network and data to scale while offering protection and privacy to its contributors.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week we talk to the Wiliot engineers behind the first sticker sized battery free Bluetooth tag about how it works and the approach to its design. Wiliot envisions a world of smarter "Things" that can sell themselves and offer functionality not possible before. Apparel and pharmaceutical packaging become connected to the cloud. The Internet of Things can scale and offer real value as we understand where products are, who is using them and when they need to be replenished. Manufacturing, supply chain and inventory can be optimized. Makers of products and retailers can flourish in the face of disruption from online shopping. Anything we wear, touch or use can include sensing and connectivity, thanks to battery-free devices with an infinite lifetime.Wiliot is a semiconductor company whose mission is to connect people with products with cloud connected sticker sized Battery Free Bluetooth tags. The company was founded by the leadership of the Gigabit Wi-Fi pioneer Wilocity, a group of wireless engineers

Headquartered near Barcelona, Accent Systems’ main business is designing and developing tailored Bluetooth enabled IoT devices, from concept to an end-to-end solution. Accent Systems has worked with well-known brands such as Samsonite and Volkswagen, enabling them to offer unique services to their consumers through beacons technology. In this episode of Mr. Beacon, we talk to the CEO and Founder, Jordi Casamada about the evolution of the company over the past 11 years as well as the evolution in the beacon market: including his opinion on the retirement of Android’s Nearby and how it will affect the future. We also discuss an area where Accent Systems has pioneered, using Narrow Band IoT to connect Bluetooth devices directly to the IoT.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on Mr. Beacon we talk to Justin Zastrow, CEO, and Ira Hayes, CTO, of Smart Armor.Smart Armor builds controlled access points, in other words Bluetooth locking systems. The company was born out of creating a solution for locking medicine cabinets and measuring adherence to medication. Now they are finding many different applications where securing drawers and cabinets, and using your phone as the “key” using the Smart Armor Smart Cube is very useful. You can find their cube in Best Buy today, and soon it Home Depot and Costco!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

There doesn’t seem like a more perfect use of wayfinding services using Bluetooth beacons than in the largest shopping and entertainment complex in the United States – Mall of America. Janette Smrcka, Information Technology Director at Mall of America, took on the challenge of enabling users to locate and navigate effectively across 520 stores on 5 levels, spanning 4.3 miles, over 5.6 million square feet. In this Episode of Mr. Beacon, we talk with Janette about what beacons and “blue dot” provider they are using, why they are using beacons over Wi-Fi, and how they deal with scaling in such a complex and large structure. We even get the inside scoop of where she sees the technology adding more value in the future.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With 300 million square feet, covering 35 countries, 100,000 beacons, and 200,000 connections per day, the French company Pole Star definitely deserves its recognition in the Beacosystem. In this episode, we talk with the Deputy General Manager & CTO of Pole Star, Jean-Baptiste Prost about use cases in their four main verticals. Polestar promises an enhanced user experience, engagement with visitors, and insight into how your spaced in used. Polestar can make any venue “smart” with indoor location, geofencing, and analytics. Watch this week’s interview to hear about the evolution of Polestar and the beacon market, and where the future is heading.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

One of the essential ingredients to the infrastructure of many systems is a gateway - a device that connects ‘things’ to the cloud. In many cases, these ‘things’ are Bluetooth beacons! Rigado, one of the leaders in this space, produces a ‘edge-as-a-service’ infrastructure - wireless gateways and an edge computing platform. This infrastructure is used for Commercial IoT solutions, like asset tracking and in smart buildings. On this episode of Mr. Beacon, Rigado’s CTO, Justin Rigling, gives us insight into which kind of applications gateways are essential, as well as an overview of their products and services.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On the August 24th, Estimote launched a first for the IoT industry, an LTE beacon. It leverages cellular LTE, GPS, and Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity. This small device, fully programmable using JavaScript, was built on the idea of enabling asset tracking in both indoor and outdoor environments. Jakub Krzych, Estimote’s CEO, gives us a first look at this revolutionary product, how it works with the Estimote cloud, and their vision of empowering developers to “use the physical world as their canvas”.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.